But until the iPhone and iPad, near as I can tell, nobody else was even trying to improve resolution on computer displays – even though all the existing HCI research tells us that higher resolution displays are a deep fundamental improvement in computing.
Actually, the original Droid had a 265ppi display, which was released in October 2009. I attended a seminar by Edward Tufte in April 2010, and he specifically pointed out the high resolution display of the Droid. The iPhone 3GS had a 163ppi display.
The funny thing is that Motorola didn't have Apple's marketing skills, and the high resolution display wasn't given much fanfare.
The iPhone 4 and its 326ppi Retina Display™ wouldn't come out until June 2010.

What was Microsoft's original mission? In 1975, Gates and Allen form a partnership called Microsoft. Like most startups, Microsoft begins small, but has a huge vision – a computer on every desktop and in every home. The existential crisis facing Microsoft is that they achieved their missi...